A Mother's Love
by lighthope
Summary: [One-shot; sequel to "Together Again" & "One Light, One Hope"] Hope discovers the power of a mother's love when she becomes both the giver and the recipient. (Summary sucks, sorry, just read and review!)


Author's notes:

-Here's the sequel I was talking about! Thanks, you guys, for bringing me to almost 150 reviews! You guys rock! Hope you like this story…

-Takes place six years after "One Light, One Hope." You don't have to read it to understand this story, but it'll clear up some things.

-It's only a one-shot, so don't be too disappointed.

-Enjoy! And please review!

*

A Mother's Love

"No, this can't be happening."

            Funny how one little stick can totally change your life, huh? I sat, staring, at the aforementioned little stick and gaped at what it was showing me. I checked, double checked, triple checked to make sure I knew what I was seeing. Finally, I sighed heavily. There was no denying it.

            I was going to be a mother.

            "Mom, Dad… I have something to tell you."

            I went to go visit my parents at their Santa Monica condo, my childhood home. I smiled at the comfort it always offers. Most single girls would dread telling their parents about a pregnancy, but somehow, I knew that telling them wouldn't be too hard… considering their own story.

            My name's Hope Takaishi. I'm just a regular twenty-two year old girl. Wait, let me take that back. I'm just a regular twenty-two year old girl to the people closest to me. But to everyone else, and I do mean everyone else, I'm a very famous twenty-two year old young woman. My career has been slowly declining, though. The music industry is very competitive. I don't mind, really I don't. I'd rather fade into the canvas that is anonymity and be forgotten for a while.

            Especially now.

            "Hope, honey, what is it?" my mother asks. Oh, my wonderful mother. I was first separated from her when I was four, only to be reunited with her twelve years later. I would tell you the story, but that's a different tale for a different time.*

            "Oh, Mom…" I can't help the single tear that falls from my eyes. It's been so hard, the last few weeks.

            "I'm having a baby," I proclaim, plain and simple.

            "You're what?!" my father exclaims. I have to smile slightly at his display of great overprotectiveness. For many years, it was just the two of us, and we have an amazing bond. "Kevin?" he asks.

            I nod, the rest of the tears starting to flow. Kevin. The one I thought I was going to spend the rest of my life with. We met six years ago and started dating not long after. He was seventeen, I sixteen. My fairy tale life was perfect then, but it slowly started to lose its luster.

            For a long time, it was wonderful. We were so in love, and our careers were taking off. I don't know what started the downward spiral—the competitive nature of the "industry," the fact that we'd been together for such a long time… I don't want to dwell. I just know that a few weeks ago I found my boyfriend, my lover, the person I thought was my soulmate, in bed with some other chick I didn't even know. At least he wasn't low enough to cheat on me with someone I did know.

            My big brother, Aaron, doesn't know this yet. I fear for Kevin's life when Aaron does find out.

            "Come here, you," my mother soothingly says, and I fall into her arms. She rocks me lovingly, and I find solace in her embrace. "It's gonna be okay. We'll be here to help you."

            "Thank you," I manage to get out between sniffles. My father, on the other hand, looks ready to kill. "I can't believe him, the bastard…" he mutters.

            "Takeru!" my mother reprimands him sharply. "Language."

            "Sorry, love," he replies, and a new wave of tears hits me. It was hard enough for me when Kevin betrayed me. Of course, he came begging for forgiveness many times after, but his pleas fell upon deaf ears. Now I had this reminder… oh God, this reminder that would stay with me until the end of my life… of what we shared. My father's term of endearment for my mother just reminds me of all that I have lost… I just can't help it.

            "Hope," my father addresses me, and I look up at him. "You'll be alright. You're strong. And your mother is right, we will be here the whole way through." His blue eyes, the eyes he gave to my brother, soften. "We know more than anyone what it's like."

            I nod, knowing that the fact is true. My mother was younger than my age when she had me, her second child. "Thank you… everything in my life right now is so messed up that it's hard for me to find something constant."

            My father kisses my forehead, like he did so many times when I was growing up. "Your mother and I will always be here. You know that."

            I smile through tears and agree. I do know that I can always turn to them.

            The days, weeks, months progress. Aaron ultimately finds out about his coming niece (for I'm really hoping it's a girl) or nephew, and makes it his mission to make Kevin's life hell, but his fiancée, Kendall, stops him, only because Kevin is her stepmother's brother. Instead, they both dote on me, helping me out with things that I need, especially towards the end of my pregnancy. For this, I am truly grateful to them.

            My mother comes to visit me often also, telling me stories of when I was younger. "You know, Hope, when you were about two, I was going to have another child," she tells me, one day.

            I raise my eyebrows. "Really?"

            She nods. 

            "What happened?"

            "An ectopic pregnancy."

            I look at her curiously and she elaborates. "Basically, it's a fertilized embryo that attaches itself somewhere other than the lining of the uterus. If an embryo attaches itself anywhere else in the womb, it can't survive. That's what happened to your little sister."

            "How did you know it was a girl?"

            My mother shrugs. "Call it maternal instinct. I never told your dad, though. We were heartbroken enough."

            I absently rub my swollen stomach, trying so desperately to remember. Then I gasp. "I remember holding a plastic wand… and seeing you on the floor. You weren't moving… I was so scared… and Daddy called a whole bunch of people…"

            "I believe that is how it happened. Of course, I can't remember, but that's what your father told me. Actually, that's what he wrote."

            I smile at the reference to the book he wrote exclusively for my mother. "Yeah."

            We sit there in reflective silence for a while, until I ask, "Mom, what were you gonna name her?"

            She sits in thought for a moment. "Vanessa. Vanessa Yuri**," she finally says.

            After a few more hours of visiting, my child gets restless and decides to drag me down with her. Apologetically, I must retire and I have to kick my mom out, as much as I love her. "Don't worry—you can take out all your mood swings on me," she says, before she leaves. I sigh. I love my mom, but sometimes… just sometimes… she can get on my nerves.

            Kevin comes to visit me one day, taking me by surprise. I answer the door and, since my pregnancy is pretty much apparent, he gasps. "Hope, why didn't you tell me?"

            "After you betrayed me, I didn't think any of my business mattered to you."

            "But… this is a child we're talking about! My child!"

            I am taken aback. "Excuse me, you could have been thinking about that when you decided to go and cheat on me. My parents and my brother have been helping me take care of this baby more than you have, or ever will."

            "But I didn't know—"

            I don't want to hear anymore of his BS. I slam the door on him. 

            Soon, too soon, the time comes for my daughter to be born. I haven't really thought of a name for my child, but I decide with the creativity that sometimes overwhelms me, I'll think of a name.

            As labor pains rip through me, I cry out. Cry out in pain that I have to do this alone. Cry out for the memory of my little sister who never got to see the world—its beauty, its hatred. But in the end, I am rewarded with a beautiful bundle of dark blonde hair and hazel eyes. Oh, those eyes… those eyes that forever haunt me… how unfortunate that she received those eyes. But I still love her anyway, more than I ever knew I could love someone.

            "Hi, my little one," I coo. I smile at her sleeping form. This beautiful life… she depended on me so much. It felt good to feel needed. 

            Ever since I heard about my little sister who had only lived for a few months, her memory had a great impact on me. As I look upon my newborn daughter, suddenly my sister's name stands out at me. Vanessa Yuri. 

            I want, somehow, to honor her by giving her niece some part of her name, but somehow I don't think that Vanessa suits her. Yuri… I don't know how, but somehow I know it's a type of flower. What kind, I don't remember. The first one that comes to my mind is a rose, even though I know that's not what it means. But Rose… Vanessa… Vanessa Rose… The name comes to me almost immediately.

            "Hello, my Nessarose."***

            A few more days in the hospital, and Nessarose Aiko and I finally come home. I can't stop staring at her—she's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. Even though I've been through a lot lately, I know Nessarose is going to be my ray of sunshine. She's so fragile, I'm too afraid to bathe her. But I know I must, and she gurgles in delight at the cool water hitting her skin. Oh, she's going to be a water baby just like me, I can tell already. 

            Finally, when her bath is done, I wrap her in warm clothes and take her to the nursery, rocking her to sleep in the rocking chair Aaron and Kendall gave me. She looks expectantly up at me, and I at her. A random tune comes into my head and I hum it to my daughter, lulling her to wonderful sleep. I know it won't last long—babies sleeping usually don't—but for now, I am just content with her.

            "Goodnight, my angel, time to close your eyes…" I begin to sing, and then a sudden and painful memory hits me.

            This memory is very fuzzy. It's dark, like nighttime. I can tell I'm really sleepy. A voice is singing to me, a sad, slow lullaby full of emotion. I can't really remember what exactly the words are, but one line stands out at me:

            "Goodnight, my angel, now it's time to dream, and dream how wonderful your life will be… someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullabye, then in your heart there will always be a part of me…"

            After that, I hear the same voice address me. "Good night, my precious daughter, Hope Akira. I love you so very much. Remember that you'll always be in my heart, no matter what…"

            That night was the last night I saw my mother for twelve years. I was four—it was the night before my parents divorced.

            Now, looking down at Nessarose, she begins to whimper a little at being held so still for so long. "Oh, shh, love. It'll be okay." I kiss her tiny forehead and continue to rock her to sleep, remembering the love my own mother had for me in that simple lullaby, and how powerful that love was, so powerful that not even time could diminish it. "Nessa, I promise you… I will always love you, no matter what."

(*) The story she's talking about? "One Light, One Hope." Most of you should know it by now. =D If not, check it out, it's my pride and joy. (Even if you have, go check out the changes I'm making. I'm just revising it to make it better. =D)

(**) From my Internet sources: "Yuri" means _lily in Japanese._

(***) The name Nessarose comes from Gregory Maguire's novel, _Wicked. It's the story of the Wicked Witch of the West. Nessarose is her sister, essentially, the Wicked Witch of the East. But I loved the name so much that I had to use it somewhere._

Please review! Let me know what you think.


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